From Haymarket to Prairieland: How dissent has unleashed the long arm of the law

The Prairieland Sentences Are a National Emergency

A federal court has punished Texas ICE demonstrators with decades in prison. This is dark news, not just for them but for anyone who may want to register political dissent.

Eight Federal Prairieland Defendants Sentenced Today to Prison Terms Ranging From 30-100 Years for Common Protest Activity - Support the Prairieland Defendants

Family Members, Faith and Community Leaders, Rally in Support of Defendants, Vow to Continue Fight for Freedom, Justice for Loved Ones

The Prairieland 19 Case Is a Test for Criminalizing Dissent

Nine members of the “Prairieland 19,” anti-ICE protesters in Texas who the Trump administration is dubiously accusing of domestic terrorism, are going on trial this week. The case is a test for how easily Trump might criminalize dissent going forward.

Prairieland Was a Test, and Corporate Media Failed

That a national press corps is so cowed by government cries of “terrorism!” that they fail to interrogate its legal fictions is a danger to the very freedoms they purport to embody.

Then They Came for the Anarchists: Prairieland Defendants Sentenced to 562 Years - UNICORN RIOT

According to federal prosecutors, the defendants were the members of a murderous “North Texas Antifa Cell.” The Prairieland defendants received over 562 years in federal prison -- the longest sentence a U.S. court has ever given to a group of political anarchist defendants.

Unlike The Defendants, One Of The Prairieland Judges Is Part Of An Organized Cell Of Extremists | Defector

Whether you remember his name or not, you’ve probably been reading about Judge Reed O’Connor and his judicial malevolence for years. O’Connor is making headlines again for being one of two judges to sentence 15 ICE protestors to a combined 547 years in prison. As the writer Lauren Fadiman pointed out in The Baffler, the…

The ‘Antifa Scare’ Goes on Trial in North Texas

As nine of the "Prairieland 19" face their days in court, the broader constitutional rights of left-wing activists may hang in the balance.

The Next Step in Criminalizing ICE Protests Is Here

First came Prairieland. Now an indictment treats mutual aid and road-blocking as a criminal conspiracy

Anti-social Punishment — LessWrong

Why do some societies exhibit more antisocial punishment than others? Martin explores both some literature on the subject, and his own experience liv…

Prairieland Defendant Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Moving a Box of Antifascist Zines

Anti-ICE activists received lengthy prison terms — including a 100-year sentence — in the first major trial of the NSPM-7 era.

Restorative Justice

The Paper Pilot's digital garden of thoughts on philosophy, politics, and sociology. Reading time: ~1 minute read | Published: Apr 13, 2025 | Updated: Oct 4, 2026

The roots of justice : crime and punishment in Alameda County, California, 1870-1910 | WorldCat.org

"Conviction Collapse" and the End of Software as We Know It

A conversation with Harper Reed

Time to change the story

New evidence from the Zimbardo archives challenges everything you have taught (or been taught) about the Stanford Prison Experiment, argue Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam and Jay Van Bavel.